I'd Call This Home
by iwillstillopenthewindow
Summary: Gone were the empty house and empty silence, washed over by reds, blacks, and blues. There are four cups to be washed in the sink, and Haru wouldn't have it any other way. [RinHaru (plus) love children]


A/N: I don't think that there are a lot of Sharkbait shippers who don't love the RinHaru love children. I absolutely _adore_ them.

* * *

Haru couldn't remember the last time the house was this empty.

He didn't know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

After letting out a sigh, he put his legs up on the couch and wrapped the blanket around him tighter. His eyes slowly closed.

It was empty and silent.

A lot of people would consider this a miracle, having such a large house all to themselves. There was no one in the bathroom, no one using the computer, no one watching horror films on the television, and no one swimming in the pool. Haru didn't even feel the need to change that last part.

'Yeah,' Haru thought. 'This was how everything was before.'

Ever since he was a little kid, his parents would often leave for business-related things. His grandmother would come and keep him company.

His Grandma wasn't able to keep him company for that long, though.

Makoto hung around, too. Haru opened his eyes and looked around. Slowly, his surroundings changed. The computer vanished, replaced by cabinets. He couldn't hear the soft splashes of the pool anymore. He wasn't sitting on the couch anymore, but on the floor, a kotatsu keeping him warm.

The empty space in front of him was soon occupied by Makoto. His green eyes were shining as he talked about what happened in school. How Haru and he got mistaken as girls again during the roll call.

There was a medal was hanging on Makoto's neck now. A trophy was in the middle of the table, but not for long, for Nagisa snatched it up and did some sort of crazy victory dance.

Haru's blue eyes couldn't help but travel to the remaining seat. Empty.

He looked back at Nagisa. The younger boy was now wearing red framed glasses. A hand reached out and failed to grab it back. 'Rei-chan how do you see with this thing?', Nagisa seemed to say. Haru wasn't sure.

Haru blinked and then everyone was gone. He was alone again. He looked around. The room was tidy, of course.

Then slowly, he was pulled back to the present by the little things that he saw.

There were sweaters draped on the armchair across the room. Books, next to used mugs (some were used for hot chocolate, some were for coffee) were on the coffee table.

Haru stood, picked up the four cups, and made his way to the kitchen. The tap water was cold, making him hasten his actions. As he was drying them, something caught his attention.

When he was done, he made his way towards the refrigerator. There was a cluster of photos on the door.

Reds, blues, and blacks filled his vision. The people were either smiling or smirking. Haru found himself doing the former as he noticed a new drawing taped on.

'With Papa, Daddy, and Onii-chan', the caption said.

Hearing the front door open and close, Haru peeked out at the living room. Three fourths of the drawing was now standing there.

"Papa?" the youngest one called out. He looked around and a big smile immediately lit up his face when he saw Haru.

Haru bent down and scooped up the running kid who was excitedly shouting 'papa papa papaaaaa' into his arms.

"We're back, Papa!"

"Welcome back, Sakura." Haru planted a kiss on his child's forehead.

"Did'ya see my drawing? Did'ya? Did'ya?"

Haru nodded. "Yes, I did. It's really beautiful."

Sakura turned to his older brother and stuck out his tongue. "See! I told you it's beautiful."

"What's beautiful?" Rin walked towards the refrigerator, a hand freeing his hair from the low ponytail it's been tied up in since this morning.

Haru let the squirming child down, who promptly ran towards his dad.

"There! My new drawing." Sakura pointed at the picture in the middle of everything else.

Rin took one look at it and, just like Haru, smiled.

Niji went and stood beside Haru.

"I didn't say that it wasn't beautiful." He said with his arms crossed.

Noticing that Rin had been silent for quite some time, Haru let out a little tease. "I told you not to cry, Rin."

Said man turned to Haru with a scowl. "I-I'm not! Stupid Haru."

"Yeah, sure."

Rin was about to retort but was interrupted when the clock in the living room chimed. It was already 9pm. They were out for a long time.

"Bath time."

Niji nodded and reached his hand out to Sakura. They were in the tub in just five minutes.

* * *

About ten minutes later, Rin shook his head when he heard Sakura say "Onii-chan! Don't soak in the tub too much!".

"I swear, he got that from you." He said, as he picked up another shirt and folded it neatly.

Haru didn't reply and just continued to watch him.

His hair was still wet since he just finished a quick shower. He was, as usual, wearing a sleeveless black shirt that clung to his body like second skin. Haru felt a blush coming and looked away, choosing to burrow under the covers of their bed.

He had already taken a bath earlier, after having dinner by himself. Rin and the children were out since morning. It was Sakura and Niji's second day of swimming lessons and Haru couldn't make it since he had to attend his own training earlier that day. The kids made a good impression, apparently, and Rin was so proud that he treated them to a movie and meat. Niji was, of course, bought mackerel from a different store.

"Dad? Papa?"

Haru pulled down the covers and turned to the door. The kids were there, both already in their pajamas.

"Goodnig- *yawn*-night!" Sakura was already struggling to keep his eyes open.

Niji pulled his little brother along towards the bed. Haru sat up and kissed both of them on the cheek. Rin did the same.

"Papa, you have to come with us next time, okay?" Sakura looked at Haru with his puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah. You're the only one who can get Dad to eat mackerel." Niji rolled his red eyes at Rin, which earned him a good hair ruffle.

"Sleep tight. Niji! Don't scare your little brother again!" Rin shouted after the kids as they exited and closed the door.

"Well… I guess this is bed time for us too, huh."

Rin put away the clothes in their wardrobe and switched off the light before laying down beside Haru.

"G'night, Haru."

"Aa."

Then everything was quiet again.

There were nights when Haru just couldn't fall asleep as easily as Rin did. This was one of them. He just stared up at the ceiling, enjoying the warmth radiating from his lover.

Sometimes, he spent his sleepless nights thinking about them. Sometimes, he thought about how impossible this situation was, considering how things were between them when they were still teenagers.

It was Rin who confessed. A few weeks after they swam together in a relay, he went to Haru's house unannounced. They also had their first kiss that day. Haru could remember it since Rin just ate mackerel with him and their kiss, therefore, tasted like it. He had no idea why it tasted sweet, though.

They're still swimming, of course. The only difference was that they were always swimming together now. They participated in relays, sometimes with the old team. Rin would often coach Rei on his butterfly. Makoto and Nagisa would always stick around to watch; the former to cheer on his friend, and the latter to tease his boyfriend.

When they were both in their early twenties, Haru could remember a blushing Rin asking him whether he wanted to try out having a child. That was the second best 'yes' Haru has ever given, the first one being an answer to "D-do you want… to.. uh.. go.. DO YOU WANT TO GO OUT WITH ME, HARU?".

Child became children after some years. When Sakura was six years old, he had stood up on the coffee table, wearing Haru's goggles and Rin's swimming trunks (which were both adorably too big for him), and declared that he was going to be one of the best swimmers out there, along with Daddy and Papa.

"…and Onii-chan!" He added.

Haru glanced at his eldest. Niji hadn't expressed any interest in swimming before, but he was only smiling at his little brother. Rin was so proud that he had actual tears in his eyes.

A month later, they both escorted the kids to their first ever swimming class.

As expected of their children, the teachers were in awe at how fast they managed to learn. There were no signs of them being especially good in any stroke yet, but who knows?

Rin had to leave early that day, since he had to attend training that afternoon. Haru and the kids prepared dinner together, mackerel, to Sakura and Rin's dismay.

They've had a pretty good run, even if Haru said so himself.

Sometimes, Haru thought that the reason why he couldn't sleep was because he was afraid that when he woke up, he'll be alone. No red hair spread out on the pillow next to his, no shark-teeth bite marks on his neck, no smell of _home_ on the covers.

Maybe he'll wake up and he'll be sleeping in a single bed, in his old house. When he opens the closet, maybe the odd bits of clothing will be gone. Maybe the kids' room will be gone, along with the photos on the refrigerator door.

Maybe he'll wake up and find himself not wanting to swim.

Haru breathed out at the thought.

Maybe… it was time to stop thinking for tonight.

The clock on their bedside table read 1:00am. Time sure did fly fast.

'Then again,' Haru turned towards Rin, whose back was facing him. Haru moved closer and buried his face in the back of his lover's neck.

'Time always flew fast when I'm with this cry baby.'

Being with Rin was like swimming. Haru felt relaxed and exhilarated at the same time. When Rin wasn't with him, he felt uneasy, wrong, even - like someone overcooked his mackerel.

When he was with Rin though, Haru couldn't fathom the wonders that his heart did. It was like he was somewhere in between drowning and coming up for air.

There were also times, like right now, when Rin's warmth was enough to calm Haru. It was enough to finally lull him to sleep—

"DADDY!"

Haru bolted upward. 'Sakura?'

Rin was slowly sitting up while rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Mmmn? Haru? What's wro-"

"DADDY! PAPA!"

"Sakura?!"

Both men made their way quickly to the kids' room. When they entered, Niji had Sakura in his arms, whispering calming words in hopes of soothing him.

"What happened?" Haru asked as Rin went to pick Sakura up.

"Sakura had a nightmare." Niji explained.

"It's okay, baby, it's okay." Rin whispered to Sakura.

"Daddy's here. Papa's here. Onii-chan's here. You're safe."

Haru thought that it was impossible for Matsuoka Rin to pull him in even further, but here he was, drowning all over again.

* * *

It only took half an hour for Sakura to fall back asleep. As Rin tucked him in, Haru called over Niji.

"Well done, onii-chan." He said, patting Niji's head lovingly.

When everything seemed to be in order, the parents went back to their room. As they were getting settled in bed, Rin sighed.

"Man, that gave me a scare." He said as he crossed his arms under his head.

"You handled it quite well, though." Haru commented as he laid his head on Rin's chest.

"Well," Rin looked down at Haru. "Niji never called for us before."

That was true. Niji never had any nightmares as bad as Sakura's, or maybe he just didn't tell them.

"Sakura called for you." Haru whispered.

"What?"

Haru looked up at Rin, softly smiling. "He asked for you first. 'Daddy', he said." He didn't feel envious of this, instead, he felt really happy. Proud, that he has a family that loved each other this much.

The man seemed to have only realized this now, for his cheeks slowly burned red.

"O-oh?" Rin looked away and closed his eyes, feigning sleep.

"Rin?"

"Sssh. I'm trying to sleep here, stupid Haru."

As if to prove it, Rin playfully let out a few snores.

Haru let out a grunt and settled back on Rin's chest. Then he remembered something.

"Rin."

"Mmm-hua?"

"Rin."

"Hnnng."

"Rin."

"Whaaat."

"What do you think of Sakura's drawing?"

"Truthfully, I wish that he inherited your art skills."

Haru had to hold back a smile at that one.

"Rin?"

"Yeah?"

"…Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Haru."

"…I'm home."

"Heh. And here I thought I was the romantic one."

It wasn't long before his favorite lullaby, Rin's heartbeat, sang him to sleep.

* * *

Five months later, the refrigerator door has even more photos stuck on it. Beside Sakura's drawing was the newest one, and it was almost identical to it. The four of them were in it, all of them sporting matching smiles. There was a medal hanging on each of their necks. The caption read: "For the Team".

Haru liked looking at that picture. In fact, he liked it so much that Rin had the opportunity to tease him for being a cry baby.

Haru didn't mind.


End file.
